Today I ran by the grocery store to pick up some milk and was perplexed to see that there were only a few cartons left on a very empty-looking shelf. I'm assuming it has something to do with this:

German cows have started filling stainless-steel vats with milk again after a 10-day boycott when many dairy farmers had dumped out their wares. Many say the problems that plague the industry remain.

Dairy factories warned on Friday, June 6, that promises by German discount grocers to pay higher wholesale prices for milk and butter have changed little.

At a time when international milk prices are low and the European Union is warning farmers to get ready for a market-driven, quota-free world, many small farms may fail.

For 10 heady days, the farmers let off steam and won mostly sympathetic attention from the media. But for those on the edge of bankruptcy, the loss of 10 days of income was a terrible price to pay.

While I heard some general comments about milk prices in the past days, I was totally clueless about what was going until about 15 minutes ago when I stumbled upon the article by chance.
Nevertheless, three thoughts now bounce around my calcium-fortified skull:

If this strike has been going on since the end of May, why was milk ten cents cheaper when I bought some last weekend?

In a way seeing empty dairy shelves at my local Lidl was nifty. I don't think I've ever been so personally affected by a strike--not even by the Bahn.

I'd be more than willing to pay a higher price per liter if I could buy milk in something larger than a 1 liter carton--I probably wouldn't even notice the higher price, so great would be my joy.